


Verdict

by PhoenixGryffin



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, FLARP, Ladystuck 2014, Pre-Canon, Quadrant Confusion, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-09
Updated: 2015-01-09
Packaged: 2018-03-06 19:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3145868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixGryffin/pseuds/PhoenixGryffin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Romance has never really been your forte.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Verdict

**Author's Note:**

  * For [effusiveEunoia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/effusiveEunoia/gifts).



This troll named Vriska’s your new roleplay partner; she’s a little bit older than you, and maybe a little bit stronger as well, if you’re being honest with yourself. You don’t know her that well yet given that you’ve only played a couple games with her so far, but she’s simultaneously the most terrifying and most badass troll you’ve ever met. And the best thing about it is that she _chose_ to be your FLARPing partner. She’s _your_ partner.

She’s your partner, and you’re angrier with her in this instant than you’ve ever been in your entire life.

“God, Vriska,” you say, and for a second it’s like there’s liquid fire flowing through your veins, “I really hate you.”

The blue-blooded troll only smirks, tossing one of her dice into the air in a careless manner. “Are you _coming on_ to me?”

“What?” you say, although you’d heard her perfectly clearly the first time.

“Oh, don’t act like you’re not flushing black for me at least a _little_ bit,” says Vriska, catching the dice and examining it in a mildly curious manner, “because it’s painfully obvious you are.”

You manage to stutter something like “That’s ridiculous,” but your head is spinning. _Do_ you have black feelings for your roleplay partner? You’re not sure. You don’t remember ever having had inclinations in the black quadrant towards anyone before, though, so you wouldn’t know.

“Ridiculous? Au contraire, my dear Redglare,” grins Vriska. “Black feelings are perfectly natural and can happen to any young troll at any—”

“ _Redglare_?” you repeat incredulously. “Vriska, we’re not roleplaying right now! I’m talking to you in real life, and I’m talking about your grave miscarriage of justice in the last game we played, so stop distracting me with all this talk about black relationships.”

Vriska simply snorts. “Grave miscarriage of justice? Big words for a scrawny teal-blooded troll.”

“Oh, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” you say, even more angered now. “The last roleplay session?”

“So?”

“ _So?_ You killed the opposing team!”

“ _Please_ ,” says Vriska, slightly more serious now, “they were cheaters. They deserved it, quite frankly.”

“No, they weren’t cheaters. They followed all the rules, and you still killed them. I don’t know what your moral code is or if you even have one at all, but _my_ rule is to never kill anyone unless they _really_ deserve it.”

Vriska doesn’t respond; she simply sits down next to you, sighing heavily.

“Maybe,” you venture after a somewhat awkward pause, “maybe we shouldn’t be roleplay partners anymore—”

“No!” Vriska interjects.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous,” you say, “we’ve only played a few games together. It’s not like we can’t find new trolls to play with.”

“But wouldn’t you—,” begins Vriska, but then she stops talking abruptly.

“Wouldn’t I what?”

“Nothing,” says Vriska.

The sun is setting, and the fading light’s illuminating all eight of Vriska’s pupils. It’s beautiful, in a strange sort of way; no, _she’s_ beautiful in a strange sort of way, and you’re not sure whether that means you like her in a red way or a black way or just as friends or if you just hate her guts. Romance has never really been your forte. You’ve only just turned five sweeps old, though; maybe that’s the reason why.

“So,” you say cautiously, “you want to still be partners?”

Vriska only nods, not bothering to elaborate on her reason why.

“Why?” you ask. “Haven’t you had other FLARPing partners before?”

“Of _course_ I have,” sighs Vriska. "I'm not a _wiggler_ , for fuck's sake. I've done this plenty of times before."

“Then what’s your deal?”

“Way to be so upfront about everything,” Vriska snaps.

“I’m sorry,” you say, not knowing how to continue, “I didn’t—” but Vriska simply waves off your apology.

“You know what,” she says without warning, “I’ll just show you.”

“Show me?”

“Hell yeah,” says Vriska, leaping up from her seated position. “Come on.”

“Vriska, what the hell are you—”

“I _said_ come on!”

For a moment you hesitate; you consider simply choosing not to follow her, simply turning your back and going home and never having to deal with Vriska Serket, alias Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, ever again. It’s definitely a tempting option. Life would certainly be a lot easier that way. 

But you _can’t_ , not really. Vriska’s your friend, and you don’t have many of those at the moment—it turns out that having an unhatched lusus doesn’t exactly endear you to many of the other young trolls your age. One friend is better than no friends, and you’d be a complete idiot to just walk away from the troll who's your only friend at the moment. Sure, your scalemates are nice and all, but they're just not the same as having a real flesh-and-blood troll around.

And okay, maybe you do like her romantically. Maybe. Just a little bit. Nothing’s definite, of course. The jury hasn’t decided on a verdict yet.

You stand up and begin to follow Vriska out of the forest.

Once you catch up to her, Vriska begins the conversation by bluntly asking, “You don’t have a lusus, right?”. How tactful.

“Wrong!” you reply, irritated at her presumption. “The jury finds your conclusion to be woefully inaccurate.”

“Terezi, have I ever told you that you’re _really_ strange?”

“Shut up,” you say. “Anyway, I _do_ have a lusus. She just hasn’t hatched yet.” You try to stay neutral when you’re saying it, try to act like it’s no big deal. Because it’s not. You’re doing just fine on your own. You don’t need anyone else. Really.

But your voice comes out sounding petulant, like a whiny wiggler, and you desperately hope Vriska hasn’t noticed it.

“Huh,” shrugs Vriska.

“So I take it yours is hatched?” you ask.

“Oh yeah,” Vriska sighs. “She’s definitely alive and kicking.” The words are said in a bored-sounding monotone, and you can’t help but be irritated with Vriska for being so ungrateful—hell, sometimes you think you’d give _anything_ for a lusus that does something other than sit in her egg all day.

“What's she look like?” you ask.

“You’ll see soon enough,” says Vriska, who’s still walking and is resolutely not looking at you.

“I’ll see—wait a minute, Vriska, are you taking me to your hive?”

“The jury’s correct. Or whatever the fuck it is you always say.”

“I thought you were going to show me why you killed those trolls—” you begin, but Vriska cuts you off; both of you have arrived at a clearing.

“Here it is!” she announces in a grandiose manner.

“Holy _shit_ ,” you say. That’s really all there is to say on the matter—her hive’s a gigantic castle. It’s huge, dark, and a little bit terrifying, quite honestly.

You admire Vriska’s hive, but you ultimately think you prefer your own in the treetop. Not that you’d ever tell Vriska that.

“Yep,” she says. “Home sweet home.”

“It’s great, Vriska, but what’s the point of all this?” If she’s somehow trying to intimidate you into liking her more or something, it’s not working.

Vriska doesn’t respond, only runs forward and motions for you to follow her. You do, but at a slightly slower pace; the towering hive is incredibly intimidating, and it’s making you feel slightly uneasy as to whether Vriska can actually be trusted.

“Terezi!” she shouts, having stopped in the darkness ahead underneath the shadow of her towering hive. You increase your pace but abruptly stop when you get closer to her because _what the fuck that’s the edge of a cliff_. She’s right next to a huge cliff. Of course. You should never have trusted her.

“Nice _try_ , Vriska,” you spit with as much menace as you can muster up.

“Terezi?”

“You were just going to kill me, weren’t you? Well, too bad. You’ve been tried and found guilty.”

“You’re _kidding_ me,” laughs Vriska. “Look, if I wanted to kill you, I’d have done it ages ago.”

She seems like she’s telling the truth, but you never can tell with her. You remain silent, wait for her to do something, to make a move.

“Oh please,” she says, “I could mind-control you right now and make you walk straight off the edge of the cliff.”

“You couldn’t,” you say, but your voice must betray your insecurity because Vriska simply laughs.

“Could too,” she replies, “but I’m not going to. Come over here, this is what I wanted to show you.”

You remain perfectly still, affixed to your spot as if glued there.

“Come _on_ ,” Vriska whines. “You can’t just stand there forever.”

Really, you _could_. You could, but you decide to come forward and see what she’s going on about. If she tries anything, you’ll just throw her off the edge of the cliff. Hopefully.

You tentatively inch forward and peer over the edge.

“Vriska,” you breathe, all thoughts of her potential treachery forgotten, “that’s not your lusus, is it?”

“Oh, it most definitely is,” she says grimly. “That’s the Spidermom.”

“I—,” you begin, but you break off because really, what is there to say? The lusus is _gargantuan_ ; it’s more or less a giant spider, pincers and all. 

And to top it all off, it’s feasting on the body of a young troll—not just _any_ troll, but one of the trolls that the two of you had defeated earlier that day, one of the trolls that Vriska had killed.

“Do you get it now?” murmurs Vriska.

“Not really,” you say, voice shaking slightly.

“Well,” shrugs Vriska, moving right next to you, “she gets hungry fairly often, and I’ve got to keep her fed by any means necessary.”

“So you kill other trolls in FLARP games and feed their bodies to her,” you say, and Vriska nods in confirmation. “God, Vriska, that’s—”

“Unjust?” she asks, smirking dully. “Yeah, it is. It’s fucking unjust that I got _her_ for a lusus.”

You can’t think of a good response to that.

“So,” Vriska says wryly, “now that you know I’ve killed multiple innocent trolls, what are you going to do about it, O Legislacerator? Should I beg for mercy? Plead insanity? Just kill myself right now to spare you the trouble?”

“I don’t know,” you say, and it’s true. Your head’s spinning. What she’s doing certainly isn’t _right_ , but it’s murder out of necessity. Surely the courts can justify that in some way. “I think maybe we can find a way to excuse your actions.”

“Are you serious?” she says, grinning. “That’s great.”

“Why’d you tell me?” you ask.

“Huh?”

“You could have just left me and found a new partner. But instead you told me about your troll-eating lusus. Why?”

Vriska shrugs.

“Come on, Vriska, there’s got to be _some_ motive for your actions,” you say.

“I don’t know,” she begins cautiously. “You’re a pretty good partner—”

“Really?” you interrupt, simultaneously surprised and pleased. You hadn’t known she valued you that much—or at all, really. Then you realize what you’ve done. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt the testimony. Please continue.”

“Yeah,” she says. “And if I hadn’t told you I’d probably have killed you, so you should be flattered that I chose to spare you.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere with this judge,” you say, but you’re smiling despite yourself.

“Is that _so_ ,” says Vriska. “Well, maybe this will,” and without warning she leans forward, lightly kisses you on the lips, and then draws away before you can react.

You’re so taken aback that you don’t know what to do, so you simply stand still and enjoy the warm feeling in your stomach that the kiss has given you.

“Well?” says Vriska, raising her eyebrows.

“You just kissed me,” you say. “On the edge of a cliff.”

“Is that a problem?” she asks.

You don’t really know what you’re feeling for Vriska, whether your feelings are red or black or somewhere in between, but you do know one thing.

“The jury’s decided on a verdict,” you say.

“And?” asks Vriska tentatively.

“It’s not a problem at all,” you reply, and this time you’re the one who initiates the kiss.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt was more or less to explore Terezi's feelings toward Vriska in a pre-SGRUB setting, so hopefully this does it justice.
> 
> Thank you for reading!!


End file.
